Wolf River Apple Tree
Begins shipping spring 2025
Zones 3 - 8
Pollinator required to bear fruit
A naturally disease resistant fruit tree that produces huge apples!
The Wolf River Apple tree is an antique variety that originated from Wolf River, Wisconsin in the 1870s. It’s known for its characteristically large fruit, which can weigh up to 1-lb each! The apples are wonderful for sauce and baking, holding their shape and requiring very little sugar. Walt Disney himself loved Wolf River Apples and the pies his mother would bake with them. The story is, she could bake an entire pie with just one large Wolf River apple.
This heirloom is low-maintenance, cold-hardy and disease resistant to apple scab, fire blight, and powdery mildew. Wolf River apples ripen in late September.
Characteristics
| Bloom Color | White |
| Ripens Harvest | Late September |
| Fruit Color | Red |
| Fruit Size | Large |
| Soil Composition | Loamy |
| Taste | Tart |
| Texture | Tender |
| Soil pH Level | 6-7 |
| Soil Moisture | Well Drained |
| Shade Level | Full Sun |
| Years to Bear | 2-5 |
| Bloom Period | Early |
| Hardiness Zone Range | 3-8 |
Size & Spacing
Pollination
This variety requires another one for adequate pollination.
Cross-pollination by a different variety is key to its growing and bearing success. Plant a different variety within 15 meters (50 feet) for best pollination.
Recommended Pollinators: Golden Delicious, Empire, Buckeye Gala, Cortland, Yellow Transparent, Honeycrisp, Liberty, Royal Empire, SnowSweet
How do I find my Hardiness Zone?
Canada’s Plant Hardiness Zones will tell you which plants will do well in your particular climate. Each zone is determined by the lowest average winter temperature recorded in a given area. Hardiness Zone information is included on all tree and plant product pages, so you know instantly whether a certain plant is likely to succeed where you live. Natural Resources Canada provides helpful options to find your zone:
Cindy Chitwood –
My brother has one so I had to have one. Huge fruit, wonderful for pies and sauce. Second year and has a few blossoms. Usually get the supreme trees as they bear earlier.
Dale Daczyk –
This is my second Wolf River Apple tree, and the one from last year is doing great, and the one this year is already leafing out.
Pete Boettcher –
I have had them in the past and have loved them. The tree is only been in the gross a year and is doing great.
Laura Jones –
This tree broke dormancy very well putting out flowers and leaves. Doing well its first year in a partially sunny spot. No fertilizer or special care needed. I would recommend this tree.
Linda Gregory –
I lived in WA ST and used to buy these apples at a farmers market and they are great. Can’t wait for mine to start that process. So glad you had these trees from the Millers
Stephen Moss –
Wolf River apple tree growing vigorously. No apples yet, but I expect great things in a few years.
Richard Theriault –
The tree I ordered is doing well. A full year under its belt, and doing well. Loking forward to when it begins to bear fruit in another year or two.
Amy Rakow –
Being in WI I had hoped last year when we started our Orchard to add the Wolf Rivers but unfortunately was unable to… So we put in 2 of 6 other types of Apples from Stark’s for a “Start” along with a Sweet Kristin cherry (Please carry another 4B sweet so I do not have to buy elsewhere!) 2 Mulberrys, 2 honeyberrys, and 1 Grape…. Everything did great their first years with the grape being our only loss which how successfully everything else transplanted and grew its first year I did not bother seeking a refund on (I spent alot more last year buying berry plants from someplace else locally and had a very poor survival rate. The $11 dollar grape loss vs the few $$$ we spent in trees was not worth the effort of bothering Starks) We had a hard winter and our geese did get to one of the apples late season and stripped some bark so we are hopefully optimistic of its survivability. Overall I am a very satisfied customer and a long time organic gardener, which is why I ordered another cherry and “miscilanious” fruit trees this season. ( And moved the geese so the trees can mature a few more years). Their prices are also nearly 1/2 what our local nurserys charge and the trees (Barerooted sticks) took off like crazy once settled in.
Karl Mayer –
My one Wolf River has given no problems and is a well formed tree. Its trunk did split this year early spring, but I found out that this just happens sometimes when the cold to hot ratio is too great during a day and expansion and contraction go to work. Not a fault of the variety, one Winecrisp did this as well, and both on the southwest side of the tree near the base, as is normal. The best part is the tree can easily heal these small splits, and I can see that taking place already.Looking forward to some giant apples from Wolf River.
Charles Ziegler –
Last year, 2016 it grew a little over 12 inches. The Tre Pep has made all the difference. Back in the 80’s I was doing a major home renovation at Harvey’s Lake Pa. and the caretaker asked if I liked apples.Nodding in the affirmative he handed me a colossal Wolf River apple and said here see if you can eat all this in one sitting. I told him that it was enough for my family. I weighed it when I got home and it weighed 18 ounces and was quite delicious as my kids said “do you have more”. So I am patiently waiting for a 18 ouncer that I can share with my kids and their’s also!